The New Girl
by troublesfriend
Summary: Zelda and her sister have moved to Tulsa to get away from their old life and start a new one, and what a better way to do so than to meet the Greasers, but then there are the Socs to deal with and their past
1. Zelda's Move

***A/N: Thanks to MissLKid for letting this story resurface. The only characters that are mine are Zelda, Yvonne, and some random Socs and Greasers. The rest are SE Hinton's characters, though I wouldn't mind making Soda, or Two-Bit my own. *wink* and just to give you a heads up, this story is post-Outsiders so no Johnny, or Dally, only MissLKid knows about that. Yes, it is changed, that is what this sentence is saying, Update, update, update, this story is now officially better! ***  
  
Zelda Murphy looked around, so this was Tulsa huh? Looked like a ghetto. She was walking down a ghetto-looking street with little houses and small fences with busted-up cars in the yard. Even the trees looked ghetto. It pained Zelda's eyes to look at it all, she couldn't believe her sister had made her move here. There were no trees, only dirt. It was so far away from her forested Maine, it was in the Mid-West of all the places to be! Looking at the sky instead of her surroundings, Zelda strolled through the ghetto outskirts of Tulsa on that crumbling, almost non-existent sidewalk.  
  
Smack! So intent on looking at the sky, Zelda had not seen the boy run across the street in front of her and she nearly toppled him over. He was a short boy, a good deal younger than herself, twelve maybe with burnt blonde hair, kinda rusty on the edges, like an unsuccessful dye job and bloodshot grey-green eyes. It looked like he had been crying he had tear streaks on his dirty face, and it was red and puffy.  
  
The poor kid looked pitiful, she couldn't say much for herself, she was from the ghetto of Maine. If you live in Maine you know there is one. Two to be more exact, one called Lewiston, the other Auburn, they are sister cities and just very big ghettos. That is where Zelda is from, and she saw so much of her ghettoness in this poor boy's eyes, from his greasy hair to his worn-out shoes, she felt bad for him, no kid should have to grow up like she did.  
  
"Hey Pony! You out there Kid?"  
  
The boy in front of her mumbled an apology the same time Zelda did and sprinted off in the direction of the voice, disappearing into a nearby ghetto house. She made herself walk on. She passed by the ghetto and came to a street with old lots and old brick buildings. At the far end of the road was a gas station and auto repair shop, a DX station. The thought of cars brightened Zelda's day, she loved cars. She jogged to the end of the road and burst into the station where two guys looked up, the both of them extremely good-looking despite their drab clothes and for a split second she was embarrassed. "Hey you guys busy?" she asked.  
  
A greasy dirty blonde approached her, "Nah, why?"  
  
She read his name tag, "Steve?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Oh, I was just wondering what kind of cars you work on."  
  
"Anything you got," the other guy was blonde and came over from behind the counter, "Why you havin' car trouble?"  
  
"No, I was just wondering if you were hiring."  
  
"Why, know someone who's good with cars?" Steve asked kind of hopeful.  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"What's his name?" The blonde without the name tag asked.  
  
"I'm the person."  
  
Steve snorted with either disgust or amusement, while the nameless guy looked her over, she was taller than Steve making her a good six feet, she had short blonde hair, tanned skin and icy blue eyes. She was scrappy too, and looked like a Greaser. "You new in town?"  
  
"Yeah," she was starting to get an attitude, she didn't like Steve laughing at her.  
  
The nameless guy came out from behind the counter, and offered his hand, "I'm Soda Pop." "Zelda," she replied grasping his hand tightly.  
  
"You want a job?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"You've worked on cars before?"  
  
"Trucks and Mustangs."  
  
"Good, you're hired. We don't get all that much car repair work around here so you may be doing a lot of gassing up."  
  
"No problem. But now that I'm hired can I punch my co-worker?"  
  
"Steve?" Soda asked, "Yeah."  
  
Zelda twirled around and clocked a sniggering Steve right in the kisser. He went back a few feet and Soda started laughing. "When do I start?" She asked.  
  
"Tomorrow, be here at 8."  
  
Zelda nodded her thanks and jogged home. "Yo! Vonn! I'm home!" Zelda had just walked into the kitchen of her ghetto house. It had a small hallway kitchen, a lounge, a bathroom, and a bedroom.  
  
"Zee?" Zelda's sister Yvonne poked her head out of the bathroom. She was almost as tall as Zelda and had dirty blonde hair she had just recently chopped off. Before it had been to her ears, it had reached down to her butt.  
  
"Oh, hey Vonn, I got a job at that gas station."  
  
"Oh, good job Zee."  
  
"You get a job yet?"  
  
"I'm supposed to talk to a carpenter tomorrow at his house at 5."  
  
"I thought we were going to build that other room tomorrow."  
  
"Oh yeah, just meet me here after you get off work then."  
  
The two of them began to make a box of mac and cheese, "So tell me why we moved to this ghetto?"  
  
"It's better than the last ghetto," Zelda's sister retorted.  
  
"Anything is better than Lewiston, or at least I thought so, up until now."  
  
Yvonne punched her sister, "Hey it was the only house we could afford."  
  
"In the middle of Oklahoma! The gas money is more than the house."  
  
Yvonne laughed, "You're right on that one, but you and I know that Mom and Dad know that we hate the Mid-West and cities so it's the last place they'd look for us."  
  
Zelda sobered, her sister was right, "Okay, but we're clearing out of here the instant this all blows over."  
  
Yvonne laughed again, "Deal."  
  
***A/N: Yes, I do use the word ghetto a lot, I just wanted to make sure that I got the point across as to their living conditions, and yes Lewiston/Auburn is the joint ghetto in Maine, ask any Mainer outside of the Lewiston/Auburn area and they'll agree with me.*** 


	2. Meeting the Curtis Boys

***A/N: Sorry for the overuse of the adjective 'ghetto' this time there is more adjective diversity. Could I maybe have a change in title, it doesn't really express what I want it to, so I'm open to almost any and all ideas. Thanks a lot. And yeah, lulu, you figured me out. I'm kinda suffering from writer's block with all my other stories so this chap may not be very long, only Lulu's reviews got me to write it, in other words, MORE REVIEWS folks!!!***  
  
Zelda was pummeled awake by her dear and loving sister, Yvonne. "Vonn?!" Zelda nearly shrieked.  
  
Yvonne laughed, "Zee, you've got to go to school y'know."  
  
Zelda rubbed her eyes and stared at the ceiling, "Alright."  
  
"Now kid, I'm driving you to school."  
  
"Oh," Zelda jumped out of her bed and dressed, and put on a baseball cap, the only way to tame her short boyish haircut in the mornings, or whenever she didn't feel like brushing it. Yvonne drove her younger sister to school and then went out looking for things to make their house more homey, neither of the girls knew how long they would be living there.  
  
At school, Zelda was given a schedule and paired up with some shorty who looked to be roughly five and a half feet, if that, and he looked rich. Ugh, how she hated rich kids. "What's your name?" He asked her as he escorted her down the hall like he'd won first prize at the county fair.  
  
"Zelda," she replied with a soft growl, she also hated meaningless conversation.  
  
"I'm Tony," he replied, he could see she didn't want to make conversation, damn Greasers, stuck to their own kind, couldn't they, just for once, go outside the box. Especially this chick, she was great Greaser material, hot, scrappy, and had an attitude, she would fit in great with the rest of the street scum. It was too bad though, she could've had a great time with the guys on a Saturday night.  
  
They got to their class quick where Zelda was quickly intercepted by Steve who gave her a questioning look as he made her sit down next to him. "Who's that?" He asked.  
  
"I dunno, some kid named Tony, office made me go with him, he smells gnarly, like money and alcohol."  
  
"You've got a good nose," Steve laughed.  
  
The Socs eyed this new girl with both interest and contempt, she was good- looking, roughly six feet with short blonde hair hidden under a baseball cap and piercing blue eyes that looked right through you. She was more scrappy than skinny, but a mixture of both from malnourishment and mistreatment. The only problem was she was sitting next to one Steve Randle. Best friend to one Soda Pop Curtis. Brother of the famed Darry Curtis, the ex-Soc who worked to keep his brothers together, who was now a Greaser, attempting to lay hands on her now would prove to be painful and deadly especially just after that fight they had lost to the Greasers.  
  
The day didn't turn out to be so bad, the Socs she could spot almost instantly and Steve was beginning to like Zelda, she had a cool no-shit attitude, good for a Greaser, and he was actually looking forward to working with her. Classes weren't so bad with Steve, but she was really looking forward to work, after school. Zelda headed off to work once the dismissal bell rang, not wanting to be late for her first day. She was about half the way there when she noticed a red Corvair slowly following her, only one type of people owned Corvairs she surmised, Socs. She hurried to work and Steve opened the employee door rather cautiously for her. Steve was acting a whole lot nicer, she thought to herself, maybe somebody else knocked some sense into him.  
  
"What'd you do to piss them off already?" Steve asked with a small sarcastic grin.  
  
"Nothing yet," she replied.  
  
Steve shrugged and threw her one of Soda's jumpsuits, the both of them watching as the Corvair slowly drove past. Soda was soon to follow, he had seen the Corvair. "What was that about?" He asked.  
  
The both of them shrugged and got to work on the latest car. They sent Zelda out at random to fill the gas tanks of the cars that drove through. After work both boys decided it would be safer to walk Zelda home with them, as it seemed very likely she was going to get jumped. Soda made the decision to stop off at his house after they had closed up the shop, the sun already retreating from the sky, leaving orange streaks, and indicating the oncoming darkness.  
  
The night was the worse time to get jumped, it was hard to see, and they knew Zelda was unarmed. When they got to the driveway they noticed an extra truck in the yard and the boys gave each other sideways glances, the only other car that was ever in their yard was Two Bit's, and he didn't own a truck. Zelda however was inspecting the truck with interest, it had a full bed and looked to be black, with a left rear hubcap missing. The boys were watching her intrigued as she devoured every inch of this car, finally, she stopped, stood straight up, looked at her watch and smiled, "A carpenter wouldn't happen to live here would he?"  
  
Steve looked at Soda who looked, flabbergasted, from Steve to Zelda, "How did you know that?"  
  
"So there is a carpenter who lives here?" She asked with increasing interest.  
  
"Yeah, my brother, Darry, he a carpenter."  
  
"Wicked." Zelda said, and leaving the boys thoroughly puzzled walked into the house. After being shaken back to reality, Steve and Soda soon followed. "Hey Vonn?"  
  
Steve and Soda were following Zelda's lead totally in awe at her behavior, how she had just walked into the house. Everyone who walked into their house knew them, and they certainly didn't know this girl.  
  
Zelda took in every inch of the house, it was not unlike her own, and using that to her advantage, she walked into where the living room ought to be and saw and chick talking to a man who was hugely buff, and was a couple years older than the girl. "Vonn?" She addressed the dirty blonde, and was met by a pair of bright blue eyes.  
  
"Zee?" Her sister laughed, "What are you doing here?"  
  
"Long story, but my co-workers invited me to their house, and here you are in it."  
  
Yvonne laughed, "Zelda, this is Darry," he was addressing the man in front of her, "this is the carpenter I was telling you about. Darry, this is my little sister, Zelda."  
  
Darry was extremely muscular, if not good-looking, with clean cut brown hair and blue-green eyes. "Oh," he said with a laugh, "You must be the new girl Soda was telling me about, the one he hired, who punched Steve." He began to laugh uproariously and Yvonne was left to glare at her younger sister. But before she could say anything, Darry spoke up again, "You must have gotten off shift with my brother, where is he?"  
  
"Soda and Steve are out cringing in the hall I think," Zelda said timidly, as nice as Darry seemed he was a bit scary.  
  
"You punched someone already?" Yvonne finally managed, still glaring at Zelda."  
  
"Yeah, he was making fun of me," Zelda replied.  
  
"Well, I congratulate you," Darry said still laughing, "no one's had the guts or the heart to punch him and he was in dire need of a hit as of late."  
  
Zelda cracked a grin and finally Soda and Steve burst onto the scene.  
  
"You're congratulating her?" Steve choked out.  
  
Soon everyone was laughing and the boy Zelda had run into the day before appeared in the hallway. "Oh, hey Pony, did we wake you up?" Darry's voice was fatherly soft.  
  
"Yeah," the dirty blonde said groggily, "What's so funny?"  
  
Soda chipped in, "We're congratulating the new girl on beating up Steve."  
  
"She did not beat me up," Steve interrupted, "It was one lousy punch--"  
  
"But it shut you up for awhile," Darry laughed. He paused, "Hey Pony Boy, this is Yvonne, and her sister Zelda, they're new to town."  
  
Pony cracked a tired grin, "Nice ta meet y'all."  
  
Upon closer inspection, Zelda realized this was the boy she had run into the day before and grinned back.  
  
Pony trekked back down the hall and disappeared into a room. "Who sleeps at six?" Zelda asked.  
  
"Pony," Soda replied sobering quickly, "He's been sleeping all day, right Dare?"  
  
Darry nodded. It was quite obvious that both Yvonne and Zelda were completely clueless to the present situation so it seemed only fair to tell the girls what they were getting themselves into by hanging out with the Curtis'. "Well Yvonne, you're hired for sure, cuz I see you've got your sister to take care of so I can't just deny you the job, so come by here round eight-ish tomorrow morning. Normally Pony's a bit more social but his friend died last week from a freak fire accident, and his funeral was yesterday, so Pony's still trying to recover."  
  
"Oh," said Zelda and she felt bad for what she had said, and she knew why he had been crying when they had run into each other the day before. "How old is he?"  
  
"A freshman," Soda replied, his normal smile returning to his face.  
  
"Hey you heard anything about Dally yet?" Steve asked on a whim.  
  
Again the girls looked confused so it seemed now was the time to explain the whole story to the new girls (***A/N: ie, the contents of the book my story is based upon.***). "For starters," Darry began, "There used to be seven of us, as you can see, our numbers have dwindled. There's us Curtis boys, me, Soda, and Pony; then Steve, Two Bit, Dally-and Johnny." He took a breath before continuing on. "A couple of months ago some Socs jumped Pony and Johnny, they were just little guys you know, and they tried to kill the kids, but Johnny got the better of them and killed one of them. The Socs pressed charges so the two of them ran off and only Dally knew where they were. Then the place they were staying at caught fire with some little kids in it. They managed to save the kids, but the roof fell on Johnny, and Dally ran in to save him. Johnny was burned real bad and died just last week, I guess Dally just crushed without Johnny and tried to kill himself, to his misfortune, the wounds he gained from those cops were treatable, so now he's in jail for a year or so, less for good behavior. Now it's just us, Two Bit and Steve and some unsettled Socs because we beat their ass in that rumble last week."  
  
"Sounds like an interesting life," Yvonne commented, "ours is less interesting, not so many gangs in Maine, just trees, preps, and white trash. We've had our share of fights though, right Zee?" Zelda nodded, she remembered that time her and Vonn had challenged the entire the football team to a fist fight. The guys thought she was serious and therefore insane and declined, but boy did she rub it in their faces. It was because one of the guys had tried to make a move on Vonn and said some things to he team that were not at all true. He didn't come to school afterwards for about a week, Yvonne had cleaned him up all right. That guy had been the laughingstock for over a month until the cheerleading squad had spread some rumors about Zelda and Yvonne and the number of girls eligible to actually cheer began to dwindle. The Murphy sisters had been trash, there was no way not to admit to that, but even trash at the school looked down on them so the two of them had a secret war with the entire school and kicked their ass, nearly getting expelled three times, but the State concluded it was the parents fault and made them move away.  
  
That was how they ended up in Tulsa talking to Greasers that were like them, if not different. Finally Darry and Yvonne decided it was time to turn in for the night, and Steve and Soda made sure there was no Mustang outside before letting Zelda and her sister leave, not that any Soc would dare stalk someone in the Curtis household. But they did know that Socs were stupid, so it could not be helped.  
  
***A/N: Thank you sooooo much MissLKid, without you, where would this story be?! I owe you lots, thank you so much!*** 


	3. A Red Corvair and some Socs

***A/N: Okay, I haven't got much to say to any of you, sorry, you all know the disclaimers, I only own Zelda, Yvonne, and now Tony, and not that Corvair, damn, cuz that's in the book. I re-read the book and fixed the previous chapters so Soda is not in school (he's a dropout remember?) And maybe I fixed some other stuff, I dunno, I do this late at night, so give me a break. Looks like I had more to say than I thought, lol, Thanks again MissLKid for the help, you've been, well, a great help, lol, and Lulu, you got the Darry part right, but the parent story is a bit more complicated than that, it's kinda interweaved into the main plot so you'll just have to wait it out. I'm sorry, but it's nice to see my side plots keeping people interested. Okay, back to writing.***  
  
The next morning Zelda made sure to arm herself. A bowie knife in her combat boot and a folding knife in her pocket was all she needed, she was a pro at using them both. Yvonne drove Zelda to school where she rushed past the teaming mass of Socs waiting by that red Corvair. She was pulled into her first period by Steve, but it turned our, second period they were to be separated. Steve had an English class he had failed the previous year, while Zelda had a study hall.  
  
Zelda decided to go on a walk, around the library, maybe catch some fumes before the next class. She heard a familiar rumbling engine and looked up. She had made her way to the parking lot where a smaller gang of Soc were eyeing her from in, on, and around that red Corvair. They nudged each other and made their way over to Zelda. There were five of them, sober and haughty. They were cocky preps that were over six feet, because they were a good head taller than Zelda who knew she was six feet at least. "Hey, you the new girl?"  
  
Zelda turned the knife over and over in her pocket as they fan out around her.  
  
"Heard Tony talking about you," the guy talking seemed to be their leader. He wasn't all that bad to look at with light brown hair, semi-Beatle style and brown eyes. He was way to clean cut for Zelda, she liked guys with hair who didn't mind getting a little grit under their nails.  
  
"Yeah, so, what of it?" Zelda wanted to know.  
  
These guys had guts approaching her in the school yard. "We were just wondering what you were doing this weekend. Maybe you wanted to hang with us." It was that same sneering, snobby voice that belonged to the leader.  
  
Zelda tried her hardest not to laugh and succeeded in a snort. "Sorry, I'm working."  
  
"You got a job already?" A guy asked with a laugh.  
  
"Where you workin? Maybe we'll stop by?" Another guy added in.  
  
"It's outta your territory,"She told the second kid. To the first one she said, "So? You guys'll probably never have to work a day in your pointless lives. Give a little credit to those of us that do, don't forget we're the ones that make the world go round."  
  
"I'll bet that's not the only thing you make go round," another kid laughed outright.  
  
Out of instinct Zelda grabbed her knife. Thinking better of it, she mule- kicked someone behind her and heard him fall to the ground with a thud.  
  
The guys began to close in on her and the stench of English Leather after shave and stale tobacco was suffocating her. Then suddenly she was tackled by an unknown force. It shocked not only her, but the Socs who backed up a little. Zelda's attacker was a boy her height but definitely older, and malnourished, because he was lean and scrappy. He had brown hair that looked almost reddish, accented by his rust-colored side burns. He had grey eyes that twinkled with mischief and she couldn't help but smile as he helped her to her feet. He was definitely Greaser material with ratty jeans, an old leather jacket and a mickey mouse shirt. "Sorry bout that," he said dusting her off. He was kinda cute.  
  
"Hey Grease," the leader said, "She's ours."  
  
The boy looked at his prize, a blonde, his favorite, she wore hand-me-down carpenter jeans and a beater, then looked back at the Socs, "I don't think she's your type." He said with a grin.  
  
Zelda grinned at the boy's back as the Socs recovered.  
  
"What're you trying to do, be her knight in shining armor?" A kid taunted, "She doesn't look to be that easy."  
  
"Glad to see someone around here has brains," Zelda growled.  
  
The Greaser laughed, "C'mon, lets get outta here babe."  
  
Zelda stiffened, she trusted Greasers more than Socs, but not ones that gave her pet names. Tightening her grip on her knife, Zelda followed the Greasers exit as he turned a corner. "Don't try anything," she warned him with a growl.  
  
"Hey, I just saw a fellow Greaser in trouble, them Socs don't really bother a Greaser broad unless she's a real looker. And boy, have they got a fix on you."  
  
Zelda snorted, "I'll kick their asses if they try anything."  
  
"You can try, but they travel in packs, kinda like wolves, with almost identical wolf behavior." He grinned at his own joke and raised an eyebrow at Zelda. "My guys'll take care of you, they're good guys. By the way, m'name's Two Bit."  
  
***A/N: Look our very own Two Bit has appeared, yay! Sorry this one isn't so long.I do have a note to add to-oh shit, whoever was asking about Dally, honey, I wouldn't keep him alive when he's supposed to be dead if I didn't have a use for him. *wink* So give me time, he might make a cameo, lol, oh shit, I jus gave away some of the story. Okay, going to bed...*** 


	4. Fixing up that ghetto house

***A/N: CiCi, I'm so sorry I forgot your name, it was a blonde thing, but here I am apologizing to make up for it. And ooohhh, Legofodopip thanks soooo much! Your review brightened my day, so it only seems right that I get out another one for you before heading out to my meet, can't keep you waiting for a week. That would be too mean, so enough babbling, I'm wasting precious time..***  
  
Zelda broke out in a grin, she knew this guy, Two Bit was one of the Curtis gang. That was good, Two Bit saw her smile and relaxed, he was kind of worried this girl might kick his ass. "Two Bit, huh, what kinda name is that?"  
  
Two Bit grinned, "A kind that suits the likes of me."  
  
"So you a part of the Curtis gang?" Zelda asked just to be cautious, who knows how many guys in Tulsa were named Two Bit.  
  
"Yeah, you meet 'em?"  
  
"Yeah, pretty cool guys, I work with Steve and Soda."  
  
"You gotta fix on either of them?" He asked.  
  
"Nah, Soda's not my type, and Steve is too much of a punk, I could kick his ass if I wanted."  
  
"Good, sometime you'll have to help me take him down, heard he's about due for an ass kickin'." He paused, "Unless---are you that broad they were talking about yesterday?"  
  
"Probably."  
  
"You punched Steve the day you got hired."  
  
"Wow, news travels round this place pretty quick."  
  
"Only in gangs, now c'mon, 'fore those guys decide they could take us down, I handled 'em pretty good last time, but defendin' a girl--"  
  
"I can take care of myself, so let's just go." Zelda headed back inside where Steve caught up with her as it was almost time to switch classes. Steve gave Two Bit a puzzling look, but they explained their situation and Steve grinned.  
  
"I'll say they've got a fix on you all right, what'd you do to them?" Steve asked.  
  
"Probably scared Tony and they thought they'd teach me a lesson, ain't nothin' new." Zelda sighed.  
  
"I'd say it's more than that now, they were gonna teach you a lesson, until they realized what type of broad they were gonna mess with---"  
  
"And that she's an adoptive part of the gang." Steve interrupted Two Bit.  
  
After school Zelda had an armed escort to her job, where the red Corvair stalked for a distance, they weren't about to jump the three of them in Greaser territory, proving that Socs did indeed have a shred of brilliance.  
  
The Corvair disappeared by nightfall but the guys walked her to the Curtis household where Yvonne was waiting, she did not yet know what was going on, and no one was going to risk telling her. Zelda had threatened them with their lives if Steve, Two Bit or Soda said anything.  
  
The weekend came with armed escorts and work, and Zelda was quickly anticipating summer. It was only another month or so she knew. Saturday morning Zelda found herself in the Curtis household yet again, it seemed that Yvonne spent a lot of time over there since she had gotten her job, but Zelda wasn't going to say anything because she knew how her sister would react.  
  
It seemed that Yvonne was working out a deal with Darry to get some discount lumber so that the sisters could work on the new room they were to build maybe expand the kitchen or add an extra bedroom. After much pleading from everyone including Pony and guys in the house at the time Darry gave in, Yvonne was a hard worker and she would pay him back she promised, she would even pay Darry to roof the new addition. With a truckload of lumber and a discounted receipt the two girls headed back to their house to start the new addition, Zelda had already gotten the day off so they were set.  
  
First the girls had to even out the spot they were to be working with. Then they started building the platform, for the floor. Lumber was cut, and hammering was to be had, and by midday and hard working the platform was finished, though they had help from Pony Boy and Two Bit who had stopped over for a bit. After a meager lunch the girls surveyed their handy work, the platform was roughly 12x12, not all that big a room, but decent all the same. They started instantly on building the wall frames and boosting them into position. By the end of the day Zelda was starting on the rafters when she noticed a gang of six or so guys coming at them from the heart of Greaser territory.  
  
They were Greasers all right, very grubby looking, and many of them looked rather old to be hanging in a gang and the majority of them looked like hoods. They were lanky and scrappy and looked very sketchy. "Hey," a tall guy with greasy brown hair and brown eyes called to them, "You the new broads in town?"  
  
Yvonne and Zelda traded looks, "Yeah," Yvonne replied.  
  
"I'm Tim Shepard, and wanted to introduce us fellas to you, you buildin' that house yaselves?"  
  
"Yeah," Zelda replied, "So what?"  
  
"Nothin'" Tim said rather startled, that girl seemed to have a nasty attitude toward him.  
  
"Don't worry about her, she hates everybody, what do you want?"  
  
***AN: okay time for my meet, please review, I'll try to update soon, I promise action soon to come, nothing happened all that much in this chapter except our meeting of good ol' Tim Shepard, looks like Darry has some competiton..lol.leaving now before I give away anymore.*** 


	5. Almost a Fight

***A/N: lol, I guess I left you all hanging way too long, but now, I've decided to update since Legofodopip has brought it to my attention, so thank her for this chap.***  
  
Zelda glared at her sister before turning to Tim for a better look. He was totally a greaser with a tall, lanky build, dark eyes, and a tanned face and black hair greased inot an Elvis look. Zelda snorted in distaste, Elvis was so out. She checked out the rest of the gang. They were a real gang wearing the same lean mean look and almost identical get up with their leather jackets, down to their black Converse.  
  
"What do you want?" Zelda scowled.  
  
"To see where all this racket is comin' from," Tim replied with a grin.  
  
"Well," Yvonne replied with a sideways grin, "You've found us."  
  
"Yeah," Zelda continued, "So beat it."  
  
"Well," Tim laughed, "This chick's got spirit, I'm sure Curly'd like you, but he's in the slammer."  
  
"Sorry," Zelda said dangerously, "I don't date convicts." She dropped to the ground and advanced on Tim.  
  
"I think she means business," Tim laughed again.  
  
"Zee---"  
  
"-elda!"  
  
Zelda turned back to her house where Yvonne was giving her a dirty look, but beyond that, at the very front of the house stood an open- mouthed, shocked, Darry.  
  
Darry approached Tim, "This ain't your territory hood."  
  
Tim gave him a sort of sideways grin, Tim knew better than to mess with Darry, he was after all Dally's friend, and Tim and Dally were sort of friends. "Whatever Curtis, let's clear out boys, apparently we're encroaching on Curtis territory and dwindling the gang's choice of chicks."  
  
Darry went to take a swing at the black eyed smart alec, but a hand on his shoulder stopped him, and from another angle, a random fist socked Shepard right in the eye, "Explain to the boys how you got that," Zelda hissed while Yvonne led Darry away.  
  
Tim and his boys retreated, their pride a little shaken because a girl had taken a swing at their leader.  
  
When Zelda reached the back door her sister pulled her inside, "What the hell were you thinking Zee? You've really got to learn to control your temper, we're not in Maine, not everyone here is out to kill us. Your fighting is going to get you in some serious trouble, and I won't be able to help you."  
  
Darry listened rather nonchalantly pretending not to hear.  
  
Yvonne turned back to her guest, "Sorry bout that, Zee's got an anger management problem."  
  
"I don't have problem managing my anger, I get it out safely, it's the anger in general I have a problem with."  
  
Darry grinned, "Safe to you maybe, but not to those you exert your management on."  
  
Zelda let out a snort of disgust, it was her job to confuse people, and yet, Darry could read her so well. "I'm going for a walk, take care of yourselves, I don't want to come back and find you guys making out in the living room or something, there's only so much I can take, I do have a breaking point you know."  
  
Darry and Yvonne blushed slightly, but Zelda pretended not to notice, and left by means of the front door trying to decide where to go since she didn't know the town all that well.  
  
The sun was setting as she passed by the park, and the swings looked tempting, Zelda couldn't remember the last time she had ridden on a swing and smiled, it had been a long time since she had smiled so it was worth a ride. After the sun set it got dark real fast, and Zelda soon found herself facing darkness and decided it was time to go home, just as an eerie fog decided to roll in, that kind of fog you see in horror movies that reflects the irredescent light of the moon. The moon, to add to the creepiness of the moment was close to being full. Zelda's imagination soon got the best of her, and she began to scare herself, not wanting to risk walking home for the fear of getting jumped.  
  
Just as Zelda made the decision to risk the walk, a pair of headlights sliced through the eerie fog and Zelda grinned, trying to flag it down. The car slowed and by the light of the moon, Zelda could see the model and the color, it was a red Corvair. She gasped, but it was too late, all the doors opened and a few guys filed out, the majority of them looked drunk.  
  
"Hey baby, what you doin' out on a night like this, ain't you scared?" One of them drawled drunkenly.  
  
"Of what," Zelda retorted, she was scared shitless, but her anger for the guys who rode in the stalker Corvair dissolved the fear.  
  
"Of getting jumped." The scary thing about that voice was that its owner sounded sober, so it meant someone was still in their right mind, but they were going to...  
  
"Hell no," Zelda shrugged, "I can hold my own."  
  
"Against how many?" The sober voice asked.  
  
"As many as you throw."  
  
As if on cue more guys filed out of the car, more guys than it seemed possible that could fit in a Corvair.  
  
Zelda raised an eyebrow, but her eyes darkened and her expression turned emotionless, "What do you want?"  
  
"What any decent guy wants?"  
  
"I wouldn't think of myself as decent if I was you guys," Zelda retorted.  
  
"Well what any guy wants from a hot Greaser chick." Some one finalized.  
  
"Sorry to disappoint you guys, but I ain't that easy."  
  
The guys started for her and Zelda broke out into a full sprint in the opposite direction, some followed while a few others laughed. A sudden pain in the back of her head caused her step to stumble, and as she fell, Zelda saw a baseball roll away. 'This is a bad way to go down,' Zelda thought to herself drowsily, but then she heard that noise she had heard since the Corvair had started following her, twigs breaking every so often, and a swish of what sounded to be leather. Zelda laughed to herself, 'I really must be losing it,' she thought, 'hearing things others cannot, and I'm the one about to go unconscious with impaired hearing.'  
  
Her body was grabbed roughly by someone and the stench of liquor assailed her nostrils, the belt a friend had given her back home started to come off when the guy holding her, lost his balance? She could feel him fall as she tried to free herself from him, but she could hardly see the cause of his demise. Zelda's land on the grass was not a pleasant one, the instant her head touched down, everything went black for sure, and all her pain was gone. 


	6. Darry, on the Couch

***A/N: Look at that Lego, I got you two chapters, guess you weren't expecting that, huh, I guess I'll get back to typing, I hope you like this. To every one else: Don't forget to review.***  
  
Zelda came to on an old sofa and realized she knew nothing of what had just happened or where she was. At her attempts to get out of the couch she kicked something fleshy and gasped, but still wasn't quite sure why. It might have been the pain in her head, or the person she had stepped on, maybe neither, maybe both. She bolted upright all the same which resulted in a headrush and the body at her feet moving. That was when Zelda took the time to take in her surroundings, it was a grassy plot of land with a single sofa and dumpster a little ways off, it was surrounded by trees, being lit up by the sun's rays as it-was it rising--?  
  
"Hey, you okay?" A groggy voice at Zelda's feet asked.  
  
"Got a fricking headache," Zelda grumbled, "Who the hell are you?"  
  
A grubby greaser with dark brown hair, nearly black, that had been cut, but was growing back was peering at her with sad dark eyes. He looked to be underfed, but given he was a Greaser that was a definite probability. He was short with a young face that had witnessed unspeakable horrors, but the rate of innocence he projected was diminshed by the pack of cigarettes leaning out of his pants pocket, making him roughly seventeen, if even that was a decent guess. "Just helpin you out in a sticky situation," his sly grin was sad, but it provoked a smile from a thoroughly pissed off Zelda.  
  
"Okay," she replied gruffly regaining her composure, "I gotta go." She teetered a bit as she stood up and the boy got up with her.  
  
"You need help gettin' home?"  
  
"Only so many stalkers at a time please, when I take care of the Corvair kids, I'll reopen the position."  
  
"I was just offerin' help, like I got your back."  
  
"And you displayed a good demonstration---I think." Zelda paused unable to remember most of the previous nights events, but not having the guts to ask this stranger as it would hurt her pride.  
  
Sometime later, Zelda stumbled into the front door of her house where Darry bolted off the couch, "Oh guys---Come on! Vonn, I'm gonna kick your ass when I get a hold of you."  
  
Yvonne appeared from the kitchen, "Shouldn't I be the maternal figure and saying that line to you?"  
  
"You were the one who let a guy sleep over your house unchaperoned."  
  
"You were the one who left last night and never came back, I have no idea where you've been."  
  
"Call it a draw then?" Zelda pleaded easing up.  
  
"Fine."  
  
"Darry, I want you outta this house pronto!" Zelda yelled from the kitchen.  
  
"And I want to know what happened." Yvonne said in a lighter tone.  
  
"I can recount to the best of my ability," Zelda tried.  
  
"And that would be?"  
  
"That Darry hasn't left yet!" Zelda exclaimed.  
  
"Darry, leave, me and Zee have some bonding to do." Yvonne called.  
  
Darry made an appearance in the kitchen, "Hope you're feeling better, sorry, bout the misunderstanding Zee."  
  
Zelda rounded on Darry, "No one calls me Zee, save my sister."  
  
Darry recoiled and nodded then flew out the door, the screen door clapping as a reminder.  
  
"So?" Yvonne asked.  
  
Zelda recounted the story to the best of her ability, she had always confided in her sister, and had never lied to her. She told her about the Corvair, and the leather noises that led up to her getting jumped at the park, how she got knocked out, and how she woke up in an empty lot on a sofa with a stranger at her feet because that was the part she was having trouble getting over.  
  
Yvonne was a good sister and listened, never interrupting, though questioned some of the things her younger sister had done in the end. "Was he tough?" She asked.  
  
"Cute, didn't look like he'd hurt a fly."  
  
"What's his name?"  
  
Zelda faltered, the boy had never told her his name, and Zelda said so.  
  
"A nameless stalker, this could get interesting."  
  
***A/N: But us die-hard Outsider fans ought to know who the nameless stalker is, if not, wait for the next few chapters, and as always, I love hearing from you.*** 


	7. A Set Up

***A/N: I apologize for the short chapter, though I can't guarantee this one will be any longer. The nameless stalker may or maynot appear in this chapter, I don't know, it depends on how far I get. Sorry Dreaminboutdal, it's not your man, but that narrows down the choices I think. To explain how Zee feels about Darry is a bit difficult, Zee is protective of her sister because back home they were all each other had, so they were forever watching each others backs, now this new kid is in the picture so Zee just needs to see if she can trust him, it's a protective thing that swings both ways. I guess, maybe I can explain it in the story, we'll see..***  
  
A nameless stalker indeed.  
  
The new week went, for the most part, without a hitch. The Corvair Kids as Zelda had taken to calling them with a grin, stalked less often. That was the odd part, Zelda was trying to figure out how such an innocent looking kid could scare off guys like that. If Zee had a talent, it was reading people, and she knew her nameless stalker didn't have a mean bone in his body, his personality was too shy. It only seemed logical to Zelda that her stalker was part of a dangerous gang or had an older brother with a bad rep that still had influence on the dim-witted. Either that or she had lost her talent at reading people altogether, it had been her lifesaver, so thought scared her.  
  
The stalker sounds had become less audible and were sometimes nonexistant, so maybe he had found someone worth his time to stalk, or he had gotten better at it. Zelda hoped that he had either laid off or had become stealthier, the thought of him trading her off kinda pissed Zelda off, she was a feminist by all means and didn't take kindly to the thought that she was being treated as property. In the mean time she had more important things to worry about than boys. She worked hard at the DX Station, if pumping gas is considered hard work, Steve wouldn't let her near the underside of a care, and Soda's lack of a position on the matter only encouraged him.  
  
Zelda's other problem was Darry. He was a cool cat by most means, he helped build the extension onto the house when Steve wouldn't let her take the weekends off, he could be pissy like sometimes. Like Darry knew lots of stuff about carpentry which put him in the cool category so he taught Yvonne a lot of stuff she didn't already know, but Darry was beginning to occupy a lot of Yvonne's life. She worked with Darry all day, and when Soda swung by his house after work, Yvonne was there talking to Darry, who knew what they did when the kids weren't there, and Zelda didn't want to think about it. All Zelda knew was that Darry was monopolizing precious time she had to spend with her sister, and Yvonne didn't seem to mind. That was the part that bugged Zelda the most, Zee couldn't find a memory when the two of them weren't together or at least had each other's backs.  
  
When the Feds were going to split them up, to confuse their parents, Yvonne convinced them that it would be impossible to live without her younger sister. When the Feds hadn't listened, Zelda had gone on a hunger strike and refused to speak to anyone, only Yvonne so the Feds decided it would be safe to keep them together. The Feds also knew the girls' history together, the fights, the suspensions, the near expulsions, and most recently their hotwiring a car that Zelda had done, but had coerced her sister into driving. Zelda and Yvonne were inseperable, back in Maine no one would dare approach them for fear of being beat down, but now, here in Tulsa, all that was changing. No one here knew of their reputation back home, about their parents, or even about the Feds. To a simple Greaser they seemed like easy chicks that needed a guy, but Yvonne and Zelda had survived flying solo, until now. Yvonne spent all her time with Darry without so much as a care about her younger sister. The idea finally struck her to try her sister's patience, to see what would get her attention. The only problem being, she couldn't try anything too outrageous or else the Feds might sweep her away.  
  
Zelda sighed, things in Tulsa were different, the people, the weather, the guys, and most importantly, the Murphy sister reputation that had made them famous in most of Maine, people in Philly had heard of them, but here, no one had, and that was the biggest let down. Yvonne had always enjoyed a bit of havoc and a bit of fun so if only Zelda could find a way to rekindle the flame that was dwindling inside her sister.  
  
Zee's face brightened when she scuffed her shoes and made her way to the gas station. Her dark eyes brightened and a small smile appeared when she saw Steve, boy was he in for a surprise.  
  
"What you smiling about?" Steve asked smartly.  
  
Zelda's smile broadened and she shook her head.  
  
"C'mon Babe, tell me what's going down."  
  
Zelda, afraid she wouldn't be able to hold her cover any longer cheered when a car pulled into the full service gas station. She got away from Steve who was grinning like mad, and away from Soda who had just approached with a puzzled look on his cute face, he knew Zelda hated Steve, so he had wondered why she would be talking to him.  
  
Zelda stayed outside for the rest of her shift knowing Steve couldn't come out and socialize, he had a car to fix and Soda would see that it got done. Steve was nearly bubbling inside, finally Zee was going to talk to him, he was so excited, maybe she was tired of hating him, he knew how girls went through phases. Over the month Zelda and her sister had moved to Tulsa, Steve had at first thought he hated this new chick who loved cars, but in reality, it seemed he had fallen for her, but he couldn't give up the obnoxious act or else she would suspect and he couldn't let that happen, it was one of those unspoken rules in the know-it-all boys handbook.  
  
After work, Soda rushed home, something to do with bills, so he let Steve lock up, even though he wasn't sure it would be wise to leave Steve alone with Zelda, despite the fact that Steve was a smart kid, Steve had done some pretty dumb shit in his life, and if Steve made the wrong move with Zelda, someone would end up in the hospital, and he was pretty sure he knew it wouldn't be the chick.  
  
Steve grinned as he locked up, now was his chance, unfortunately for him, Zelda had been thinking the same thing. Steve tried to be smooth, "You know Zee, you aren't as bad as I thought."  
  
Zelda grinned, this wasn't what she was expecting, but it could work to her favor. "Yeah?" She asked, "Now what do you think?"  
  
"I think that you are a pretty smart chick, goodlooking, and could get anything that you want if you tried for it."  
  
That had been a line Zelda had hoped he would say, but didn't actually think he'd go so far as to say it. "Well," she said slowly, like any girl would if she had just been flattered. "If I could get anything," Zelda's pensive look turned into a smile and she stopped walking, Steve stopped with her.  
  
This was the time that they both had been waiting for, but for different reasons. They were more than a few blocks from home, and were hidden from the moon and the street by protective trees. Zelda leaned out and kissed Steve, right on the lips, just to see how he would react. Lucky for her, he played right into her hands, he leaned right into her kiss, grabbing her lovingly around her hips and pressing his body close to hers. This was as close as most guys ever got to Zelda before winding up near death, and even Zelda wasn't sure why she was delaying, she hated Steve.  
  
When Steve's hands began to move to not-so-welcome places, Zelda made her move. But somehow, she was late. She took a small breath of air breaking from a kiss she could tell Steve didn't want to part from, but his hands kept moving, like Zelda was no different than any other Greaser girl, but he couldn't have been more wrong. When he moved them farther into the trees, he tried as expertly as he could to undress Zelda, but Zelda had other ideas. "I'm not that easy," she growled before kneeing him in the groin. He howled in pain and backed into the trees, that's where Zelda started to cuss him out for treating her like Trash. She beat him down pretty good, she took good swings at his head and stomach, years of practice made her hits precise, accurate, and painful, and made Steve wish he had never tried anything with Zelda.  
  
When blood began to spew everywhere, from his nose, face, and everywhere else, a short being leaped out at Zelda from the trees. It was the nameless stalker. "What'd he do?" The kid asked shocked.  
  
"I don't remember," Zelda replied, the way the kid said it with such conviction made her feel sorry for preying on a loser like Steve.  
  
"Well, you beat him good enough," the kid said quietly in a pained voice, almost like he knew Steve. "C'mon, I'll walk you home this time."  
  
They inspected Steve who was on the threshold on unconsciousness and couldn't see clearly, and dragged him to the Curtis place, where like usual, Yvonne was. The nameless stalker waved his goodbye and disappeared before anyone come out of the house. But when Zee saw Yvonne with Darry, her reasons for beating up Steve again came back at full force, and with them came the image of her friendly stalker's pained look. She didn't know what to say, how would she explain Steve? Tell the truth, or lie? 


	8. Condemned to Hell, and maybe worse

***A/N: Alright, it's my story so the stalker is my man. But actually, he's really Ms. Hinton's so we'll leave it up to her to decide. Besides, you get him in the other story, so it's only fair. Plus I'm older, so I'm pulling rank. Actually Stevie, I'm just delaying so I can think of what I was going to write, I figured that I should update, this story was getting close to being at the bottom of the list.***  
  
Yvonne gasped and what's worse was that Darry tried to comfort her. Zelda wanted to leap on the sofa and beat him like she had done to Steve, but the look on Yvonne's face when she turned to face Zee was deadly enough to make Zelda hone in on the more serious problem at hand. Yvonne was thoroughly pissed off, at Zelda? That made no sense.  
  
"What happened?" Darry asked in his fatherly tone.  
  
Yvonne glared at her little sister, she knew the handiwork that covered this boy's body. "I know who did this," Yvonne said with an anger and conviction that made all the boys turn towards her.  
  
Zelda cringed and started for the door. "Stop right there Zelda Maella Murphy." Yvonne's voice was deadly, and was deadlier because she had used Zelda's middle name.  
  
Normally Two bit would laugh at a name like that, but Yvonne's attitude had caused everyone in the room to freeze.  
  
"Why Zee?" She asked, her voice painfully weak, "Why did you do it?"  
  
"You?" A million people seemed to ask at the same time all in disbelief, "wow, I had no idea a girl could pack a punch like that." Someone else said, the world seemed to spin around Zelda and the voices became distorted.  
  
"Only Zelda, after lots of incidents and lots of practice." Yvonne seemed to have regained her composure and sounded hurt. "Zee, do you realize what you might have done?"  
  
"But I didn't.the kid.the kid came." Zelda tried to defend herself, she had done everything all wrong.  
  
"What kid?" Pony asked.  
  
"Johnny," Steve gurgled from his spot on the floor.  
  
"That's impossible, Johnny's dead," Pony moaned.  
  
The gang was preoccupied with the Johnny kid, but Yvonne was not, and she took the chance to yell at her sister. "You." She growled, "Do you know.why.what if.?" Yvonne seemed incapable of forming sentences. Finally she managed to get one out. "You could have killed him Zelda, like you almost did that other kid back home. It would be all your fault. He didn't deserve this Zee, they don't deserve this, you are capable of killing someone Zelda." Yvonne's voice raised to an unnaturally high pitch.  
  
Zelda was frightened and fuming as thousands of bad memories flooded her mind, they had promised each other they would never talk about that kid. But now, Yvonne had opened the floodgate, and she was overwhelmed with flashbacks of everything. The scar on her sister's neck only made things worse. Yvonne seemed to be saying the same uncomprehendalbe things over and over and Zelda had had enough. "Don't you want to know why Vonn? You of all people should want to know why! You lived through the unspeakable, and I saved your ass, and now you are throwing me awa for another guy, I wanted to remind you..remind you of what happened last time.." Zelda realized then that most of her words came out as jibberish because she was crying so hard. "I wanted you to see!" with her last statement Zelda ran out the front door and had no idea where she would go, she was running blind, with no intention of going anywhere, and no idea where she was.  
  
When she finally came to her senses, Zelda realized she was on a street worse than her own, and she had somehow crossed a river? There was definitely a river behind her. She had cried herself out, and now realized she had just done the stupidest thing ever. She had no idea where she was. But she had to find out, so she flicked up her collar Elvis style and strutted down the street where she spotted a group of guys hanging out. She knew it was a bad idea to approach them, but she could beat them off or outrun them. Or at least she thought so. There were a lot of them, and she had already exhausted hre fighting and running powers. She was living on adrenaline now.  
  
"Hey," she called gruffly, trying to use a boyish tone. Her hair and voice always worked to her advantage to disguise her, it was always her breasts that gave her the problem.  
  
The group looked up "Beat it punk, there's gonna be a fight, and you don't need to be in it."  
  
Zelda looked each one of them in the eye as best she could, but realized she did not know any of them. There sure were a lot of gangs in Tulsa. Her third one in counting. "Who you fightin?"  
  
The leader stared her down, "No one you know, so beat it kid."  
  
"Can I just ask where the hell I am?" She asked.  
  
The leader looked at her real hard and laughed, "why you lost?"  
  
"Yeah, got a problem with it?"  
  
"Yeah, you're in our territory."  
  
"So?"  
  
"So, all guys we don't like we get to beat up, and let die, and all girls we get to do what ever. Any questions?"  
  
"Yeah, two. Which way is out?"  
  
The guy pointed.  
  
"And didn't you all have a rumble?"  
  
The guys laughed and moved into the light of the street lamp, they were all tall, dark, lean, and very scary. "Not anymore."  
  
Zelda booked it in the direction the kid had pointed but it was no use. Her adrenaline had given out, and there were some speedy little devils on her tail that tackled her and threw her to the ground. Zelda felt around for her knife and whipped it out. She sliced the first guy on his wrist to reduce the amount of grabby hands so she could stand up and wait for the rest of the gang to catch up. In the meantime, she got out her other knife, and wielded them both dangerously, endangering any extremities that ventured to close. In Zelda's insane onslaught, a valve had opened that had not been opened since the Murphy sisters had spent some time in Philly and got jumped almost every week by a different gang.  
  
The guys laughed as they circled her, and she knew there was no way out of this unless someone burst onto the scene immediately. But by the number in the gang, it couldn't just be her stalker, Johnny, it had to be a lot of somebodys.  
  
Just then someone did burst onto the scene there were a lot of them too, and Zelda was thankful. Had Yvonne chased her down? Zelda knew, as her body was trampled by the two gangs mingling that that was not the case. Yvonne would not chase her sister down if her life depended on it. The look Yvonne had given Zelda had near damned her to Hell, the kind of look their parents had given them, the kind of look Zelda had hoped never to see again, the kind she did not intend on seeing again if she made it out of this fight alive. That was the last thing she thought about as a kick in the head knocked her out, and her body got dragged off the scene. 


	9. Dally, Buck, and Tim

***A/N: Hey all, its been awhile hasn't it, well my lack of updates here are simply because I live over at fictionpress these days. But because Legofodopip is so great, I decided to update with this bit of a chapter I found, and I fixed the parts I said wrong, lol I typed this late at night, and after awhile Dally and Darry start to look like the same.***  
  
Zelda came to inside a shabby house. The room was drab with insulation for walls. She was awakened by the steady drip of a faucet, too much smoke in the air, and pain-everywhere on her body.  
  
When the sleepiness went away and her senses broadened, she took in her surroundings and began to think, mostly of a way out. She was covered in blankets. The rugged blonde shook them off and came to the conclusion she was on a bed. Recalling the fight and the sketchy hoods, she rolled out of the bed and landed on the floor with a hollow sounding thud, and a small yelp of pain. Two guys instantly tumbled into the room, as if they had been waiting for Zelda to wake up.  
  
She checked them out as she reached for her switchblade, both were nicely built guys, with the strut of a rodeo rider, the ones her and Vonn had often gone to see in the Portland Civic Center. The only problem with riders was that they were older than they looked and acted. They were strong, drunks, and in most cases, stupid, like falling off the bronco or getting gored by a bull had caused them to lose all their sense.  
  
The one dressed in black leather, looking more like a hood than a rider had bright blonde hair and piercing blue eyes. He grinned at her, "Hey Buck, she's up."  
  
Zelda couldn't help but think, um duh, riders are about as stupid as they make them sound.  
  
The guy sporting the cowboy hat grinned back, "Yeah, we'd best get her cleaned up, fed, and out of here." They started towards Zelda, "And find her some clothes too."  
  
Zelda looked down at herself, she was still wearing cuffed jeans, combat boots, and a black shirt, the shirt was in a bad way, and the pants were heading in that direction. "Where's my jacket?" She asked her voice rough.  
  
"She speaks!" The blonde laughed, amused.  
  
"Damn right I speak punk. My clothes are fine, but where's my jacket?"  
  
The guys stopped just in front of her. "It's out front," the blonde said. "But I think we got off on the wrong foot---"  
  
"Oh, is that the problem?" Zelda asked her temper rising, she was not impressed with how the situation was going. She liked to be in control of things, and so far she didn't know where she was, who these guys were, or what she was doing here. "In that case you got two wrong feet, and damn ugly shoes." (**Sorry had to add the bit from Erin Brockovich**)  
  
Both the guys laughed lightly, this girl was funny, acting all tough in a situation she could not control. They only succeeded in pissing Zelda off more. "I'm Dally," the blond said and jerked a thumb towards his friend. "And that's Buck."  
  
Buck tipped his hat. "That much I gathered," Zelda stated climbing to her feet. "Where's my jacket, I need to hit it out of here." The unsteady girl pushed her way past the boys and made her way to the door. Pain was etched into her every body movement. "Why do I feel like I got hit with a 2x4?" She asked in a pain stricken voice as she tried to stay on her feet and open the door.  
  
The sound of scraping chairs and people standing up tweaked Zelda's nerves, giving her a headache. "Because," said a voice that seemed somewhat familiar, "In a sense, you did."  
  
Zelda squinted through the bright light that illuminated the room and saw ten to twenty bodies standing tall. The one in the front had spoken, why did he seem familiar?  
  
He was a scruffy looking fellow, unsure of what to expect, he peered questioningly past her to the two guys. They shrugged and urged him to get her to talk. He started out cautious. Last time they had met she had given him a mean black eye. "So uh, what's your name?" He asked, he couldn't remember for the life of him what her name was, and it had been a very odd name too.  
  
"None of your damn business." Zelda growled and tumbled around the room looking for her jacket, she had to get out of here, there were too many guys, cloudy thoughts filled her brain. She needed the jacket so she could leave, she didn't like all the attention she was being given, she didn't like all the guys in the room, she could smell they were hoods.  
  
"What were you doing on the other side of the river? That's dangerous territory for a girl."  
  
"Yeah, so, I'm new, and stupid, and right now, I have a killer headache so will you all stop hiding my damn jacket and give it to me!" She yelled. The guys shuffled their feet, none of them looked to have it. Zelda growled.  
  
"Well you were lucky that we had a rumble with the Tigers last might cuz if we hadn't who know what would have happened to ya." The leader continued.  
  
Zelda knew who he was, maybe if her head didn't hurt so damn much she could figure out who it was. Pride made it impossible for her to ask. "So am I on the right side of the river now?" That was one of the few things she remembered, was being seemingly on the wrong side of the river. Zelda didn't even know there was a river in Tulsa.  
  
"Well that depends on what side you started on." The guys laughed softly.  
  
"Don't fuck with me kid, I don't need it." She paused after realizing she couldn't remember. "I don't remember. I remember, leaving Maine, Philly," Zelda gasped as the pictures she had been trying to forget flew in front of her eyes. "Coming here, building on our house, the DX, beating up Steve.." Zelda trailed off as the insaneness of the crime she had committed finally hit her full force. "Darry just made me so mad, I just." She fell to the floor, unaware that everyone was watching her as the young teen experienced her mental breakdown.  
  
The leader finally remembered, this was the girl that was the sister of that hot chick that had been building on their shack, the one who was friends with Darry, this was the girl that had punched him. No time for that now, she was breaking to pieces, he would get revenge later. Her name, what was it? Zelda! "Zelda, it's me Tim."  
  
"Tim, Tim," she murmured, then laughed, "That kid." she trailed off again, her eyes glazed over, thinking, lost in age old memories.  
  
"Hey, we gotta get you home, Darry's gonna be lookin' for ya, your sister is his friend after all, he's gonna hunt us down."  
  
The instant he said Darry she recoiled. "Darry's the devil," she growled.  
  
"I feel the same way kid, but if Darry finds out you're here with us he'll come after my gang and we can't have that. He's pretty dangerous when he's emotional."  
  
"So am I," she murmured so barely even Tim could hear, "But they don't want me home. Not after what I did. I need to hide from them."  
  
"Dally, help me out here." Tim said. Dally came over and the two of them hoisted Zelda to her feet. They gave her her jacket and started to walk her outside.  
  
"Where are we going?" She asked wearily.  
  
"The Curtises."  
  
"No."  
  
"Kid if we don't bring you back there's gonna be hell ta pay."  
  
"Pretend you don't know where I am, lie, be good Greasers."  
  
"Kid you're Curtis Territory. I'm risking my gang helping you out. Dally here's friends with them boys."  
  
Zelda turned to Dally and looked him over once more. "Let's just get one thing straight, I ain't nobody's territory. I'm my own person. My sister may have lost her sanity as well as her identity, but I am still my own girl. I just need a place to stay Dal, to sort out things, you won't even realize I'm here. You won't be goin' against nothin' I'll still be with the Curtis gang, indirectly, if you're worried about risking his wrath. There was a rumble at the Curtis house, and I need to rest up so I can fight that prick, before he takes my sister."  
  
Dally grinned and they led the girl back into Buck's house. "Your sister is one popular chick. Tim's been ravin' about her since I got out, and he was pissed that she was already claimed Curtis territory, I might risk a fight with the man myself if she's that hot a ticket."  
  
"You try it I'll kick your ass." Zelda whispered faintly. She could feel her word going black again.  
  
"She means what she says, you shoulda seen what she did to one Steve Randle.." That sounded like Johnny, and it was the last thing Zelda heard before slipping into unconsciousness again. 


	10. Johnny Speaks

***A/N: Okay all thanks for the reviews, I fixed up the last chap cuz I thought it was pretty corny, and it still is, but hey, I tried, and I'm open to any suggestions you all might have. And yes I did take the Mary- Sue test, and I'm borderline, jus sayin. And that's only cuz my trademark is crazy boyish names, but I'm not bitter, this story has to be halfway decent or you all might not have reviewed. So thanks a lot, and I'll try to make this chap less corny.***  
  
A bright eyed Dally stared down at Zelda the instant she opened her eyes. She coiled and regained her headache. It soothed once she heard the country music in the next room. They were having a party? That would explain Dally's eyes. "So what's this I hear you did to my man Steve?" he asked.  
  
"He deserved it, just be glad it wasn't you." Zelda rolled over and tried to go back to sleep.  
  
"He didn't deserve it you led him on!" She heard Johnny pipe up.  
  
"Shut it kid. You may have saved my ass a couple times, but now is not the time to argue with me. I've got a killer headache and in the meanwhile Darry Curtis is parading around with my sister. Plus I didn't lead him on, the kid was crushing on me. He took advantage."  
  
"C'mon, he's Grease, he's gonna take all he can get," Dally said with a laugh.  
  
"Well he picked the wrong chick, and don't you say anything over there small fry."  
  
"Well," Dally said, "Those are big words for a little lady."  
  
"Aww, shut it." Zelda said and fell back to sleep, thinking of a plan.  
  
She woke up a good day later, recovered to say the least. She healed faster than any of the boy thought she would, and was out kicking around. Johnny, the small brown haired, dark eyed kid always shied away from her whenever she was up and about. Zelda never minded, she needed the peace and quiet to think of a plan to get back to her place, and get even with her sister. Well not so much Vonn, but more Darry, since he was the reason Vonn was turning against her.  
  
Slowly the days passed, on one ever kept much record of the days, school could be over by now. Zelda was sitting, curled up on the sofa, almost invisible when Johnny came in. He was cute, especially the way he walked, like a hood. He didn't like Zelda too much anymore, not after the Steve incident, he never stalked her, and never talked to her. He surprised Zelda when he sat down almost next to her. "I've been thinking about you for a couple days now," he said.  
  
Zelda tried not to laugh, was he trying to pick her up? "Is that so?"  
  
He grinned after realizing what he had just said, and blushed a deep red. "Well, I'm the only one around here who really knows what is going on between you and Darry, and even I don't understand. Girls are so complicated."  
  
Zelda laughed brightly. "Just girls who are too fake to know themselves or ones who are trying to forget everything to live better."  
  
"And which are you?" He asked plainly.  
  
"The latter."  
  
"Yeah what's your story?"  
  
"I'm afraid I can't tell you, I'm trying to forget, remember. Plus, it's classified information."  
  
"Really?"  
  
"Yeah, what's your story, how come everyone thinks you're dead?"  
  
"I asked you a question first."  
  
"Fine, I'll tell you everything I think I can legally, how's that?"  
  
"Good enough for me, so long as I get an explanation."  
  
Zelda cracked a grin and shook her head. "Well, let's see, it started all way back in Maine, a long long time ago."  
  
"In a galaxy far far away?" Dally guessed walking through, and stopping, but upon realizing Zelda and Johnny were conversing continued on his merry way.  
  
Both kids grinned and look away. "Well it seems like a long time ago. Me and Yvonne, we were pretty normal kids, not to rich, not to poor. Never complained much, and stuck together, basically cuz we didn't have any friends elsewhere. Our parents well, they were a different breed. In and out of jail so often we lost count and Yvonne and me kinda raised ourselves to be good kids. It was a stretch given our name and family history. Murphy is a big mafia name up in Boston." Zelda explained and he nodded. "No one ever really liked us cuz we were tough kids. You have to be tough to stay alive in the mob, its kinda like livin down here. People tried to toy with us, but me and Yvonne, we don't put up with any shit and trashed 'em, so we kinda made a name for ourselves up there. We took on the whole football team once, they thought we were insane, oh, those were good times."  
  
Zelda took a breath, "And then our parents went to jail for the last time, so it seemed. They were smuggling basically, for the mob, cuz no one cares what goes and comes from Maine, so they were pretty good. But they got busted pretty good, but didn't have the evidence, or witnesses to keep 'em in for a long while, me and Vonn, we don't really care bout what they do, so we were useless. Up until the government decided to ransom us for information. Little do they know how much our parents don't care about us. So they sent us to a safe house in Philly.  
  
"It was pretty chill up until Yvonne met that Tyler kid, he creeped me way out, he was the head of his gang or whatever, and he had it in for Vonn, cuz she is one hot ticket. Well the gang was mad sketchy and I told her I was all against it but she made me go with her. Well we didn't make it to the gang meeting. He stopped us in the ghetto, under the highway and tried his way with her, some thugs held me up, but they lost interest in me, cuz I'm just a kid yanno. So I dove right onto him, stole his blade and nearly killed him, but I got him off of Vonn, which was the only thing she really wanted at the time. We got hauled in, I had put the kid in a coma.  
  
"The government had to move us after that cuz the gang jumped us evreywhere we went, like they had staked out the safehouse, so they decided it wasn;t safe, and were all about splitting us up, so we didn't cause so much trouble, well, I rioted, and so did Vonn, and they decided to keep us down here, until our parents try to get us back, which they won't. Out of sight out of mind they say."  
  
Johnny's eyes were locked onto Zelda's somber ones. "So what's your story?" She asked with a sigh.  
  
"Not nearly as complicated as yours." 


End file.
